Obama says he will preserve, strengthen Medicare

President Barack Obama, on Saturday, addressed Medicare during his weekly address. Since Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for president, chose Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate Medicare has been front and center in the presidential debate. Republicans say Obama stole $716 billion from Medicare to fund the Affordable Care Act, or what they call Obamacare.

Numerous reports have proven that line of attack as being false and President Obama used his weekly address to also defend his policies while also attacking the Republicans' plan for Medicare. President Obama said he has not taken a single penny from beneficiaries, as the Republicans have claimed. He said the savings from his Medicare policy will actually save seniors money. By comparison, he said, the Republicans' plan and the budget plan that Ryan wrote and Republicans voted in favor of, would essentially turn the program into a voucher system. Under that system seniors would receive a check for a certain amount and if their medical bills were not covered under that amount they would have to shop around for insurance or pay for it out of pocket.